In the last decade, billions of people have had their information stolen from one, if not multiple, business sectors. Technology is constantly changing, and with new technology comes new ways of hacking. Outdated devices, human error, malware and theft are all things that contribute greatly to the chance of a data breach. It’s important to ensure companies are well aware of all possible hackers in order to secure their company. No business wants to face the PR nightmare other companies have in the past.
Types of data breaches
Devices are susceptible to vulnerabilities that have yet to be patched. Often times, these patches don’t even occur because of a lack of memory or non-compatible OS software. Another issue that can occur when using outdated technology is not meeting the newest WIFI protocol standards. This means the device would not be receiving a secure connection. This is something hackers love to see and makes their job extra easy.
Human error is a huge reason data breaches occur. It’s not new information that humans often let things slip through the cracks. Majority of the time, these errors are simply an accident. Some examples of these missteps are using weak passwords, falling for phishing scams and sending sensitive information to the wrong recipient. This can be avoided with employee education and data security training – all things provided by an outsourced IT company.
Malware breaches are easy to get caught up with if you don’t know what you’re looking at. An anti-virus will help patch vulnerabilities in your device but other forms of malware may not be as obvious. Also, be weary of “free” antivirus software.
With new technology, comes new ways to hack your data. For example, a packer is a type of malware that could hide from your antivirus because of the coding that compresses it. A crypter creates altered, and infected, copies of a program. As soon as it’s clicked on by the user, it begins to decrypt. Polymorphic malware is malware that repeatedly uses packing and crypting methods to change the way it looks. Then finally, there are many kinds of malware staging programs called droppers or downloaders which learn about the system first and then infect it with the real malware – talk about scary.
Physical theft is always a risk. Whether it is a stranger or employee, the effect can be detrimental to a business and its data. Especially if there is no backup data recovery set in place, important data could be lost indefinitely. This vulnerability is hard to predict due to the opportunistic nature. Keeping important items secured at all times can reduce these opportunities.
what next?
Are you guilty of any of these items? Knowing what to look for will enable you to stay off a hacker’s radar and save your data. Knowledge is power and most importably, prevention.
